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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. kid — child
  3. present — the time now
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. rest — a break
  6. board — to get on
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. present — a gift
  10. band — a ring
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. board — a committee
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. bat — the animal
  17. present — there
  18. bat — for baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com